Cited by 69Malaria Research and ControlBlood groups and transfusionHemoglobinopathies and Related Disorders

Antibodies to Variant Surface Antigens of Plasmodium falciparum–Infected Erythrocytes Are Associated with Protection from Treatment Failure and the Development of Anemia in Pregnancy

Open access
Feng, Gaoqian, Aitken, Elizabeth, Yosaatmadja, Francisca, Kalilani, Linda, Meshnick, Steven R., Jaworowski, Anthony, Simpson, Julie A., Rogerson, Stephen J.·2009·The Journal of Infectious Diseases

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM), Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes (IEs) express variant surface antigens (VSA-PAM) that evade existing immunity and mediate placental sequestration. Antibodies to VSA-PAM develop with gravidity and block placental adhesion or opsonize IEs for phagocytic clearance, helping to prevent maternal anemia and low birth weight in infants. METHODS: Using serum samples from 141 pregnant Malawian women with parasitemia enrolled in a randomized trial of antimalarials and VSA-PAM-expressing CS2 IEs, we quantified levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) G to VSA-PAM by flow cytometry and levels of opsonizing antibodies by measuring uptake of IEs by THP1 promonocytes. RESULTS: After controlling for gravidity and antimalarial treatment, higher levels of IgG to VSA-PAM were associated with decreased anemia at delivery (odds ratio [OR], 0.66 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.46-0.93]; P = .018) and were weakly associated with decreased parasitological failure (OR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.60-1.03]; P = .075), especially reinfection (OR, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.53-1.01]; P = .057). Higher levels of opsonizing antibodies to CS2 IEs were associated with less maternal anemia (OR, 0.31 [95% CI, 0.13-0.74]; P = .008) and treatment failure (OR, 0.48 [95% CI, 0.25-0.90]; P = .023), primarily because of recrudescent infection (OR, 0.49 [95% CI, 0.21-1.12]; P = .089). CONCLUSION: Higher levels of both IgG antibodies to VSA-PAM and opsonizing antibodies, a functional measure of immunity, correlate with parasite clearance and less anemia in pregnancy malaria.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1086/599841

Cites

42 of 42 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Feng, G., Aitken, E., Yosaatmadja, F., Kalilani, L., Meshnick, S. R., Jaworowski, A., Simpson, J. A., & Rogerson, S. J.
Affiliations
  • The Royal Melbourne Hospital (AU)
  • University of Malawi (MW)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
  • Burnet Institute (AU)
  • The University of Melbourne (AU)
Venue
The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Published
2009-07-15
Volume
200
Issue
2
Pages
299-306
ISSN
  • 0022-1899 (ISSN-L)
  • 1537-6613
OpenAlex
W2144696623
Cited by
69
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
FWCI
5.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Journal of Infectious Diseases (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI049084)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Malaria Research and Control
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Blood groups and transfusion
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Genetics › Hemoglobinopathies and Related Disorders
Keywords
malaria in pregnancy, Plasmodium falciparum, variant surface antigens, opsonic antibodies, IgG, anemia in pregnancy, treatment failure, reinfection, recrudescent infection, placental sequestration, parasite clearance, placental adhesions
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Anemia, Animals, Antibodies, Protozoan, Antigens, Protozoan, Antigens, Surface, Antimalarials, Erythrocytes, Female, Flow Cytometry, Humans, Immunoglobulin G, Malawi, Membrane Glycoproteins, Plasmodium falciparum, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic, Malaria, Falciparum, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review